17. Another Possibility
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"I am expecting a pregnant female to come in today Luna" Hannah reported, I was helping her organize some files, I frowned at the title, though Kaden had claimed me in front of his pack, the binding ritual was not done yet and I have began to see Hannah as a friend, three weeks has gone by since my mating with Kaden, and approximately two weeks and six days since I had my shift and Kaden suggested we gave our relationship a try.

"Okay—Hannah I would prefer if you still called me by my name" I voiced. I still had trouble sleeping, I still believed this all to be a dream and I woke up each morning dreading that Kaden would once again despise me but he hasn't, he still held my eyes to the dining halls, he still fed me and walked me to the clinic and came in the evening to walk me back, then we would have dinner and he would cuddle me to sleep, we don't have much of a conversation but I know Kaden is trying and I don't want to push him,

"But you are Luna" Hannah pointed out, giving me a knowing look like I was struggling with my identity.

"Not yet and before then I would prefer you see me as a friend or colleague rather than someone above you, I would even prefer if you remained calling me my name even after the mating ritual" I explained, everything was overwhelming and it appeared as if everything was piling up at once, I was barely Kaden's mate now I was to become Luna.

"Very well, I shall call you by your name" Hannah smiles, I should be ecstatic at becoming Luna, this is what Ciara was dying for yet I am not, I am afraid of the responsibility that would be put on my shoulders and I am afraid that if I fail or even make a mistake I will be scrutinized and I will be judged by my past, I already imagined words like in quote 'what did we expect, her father failed as a Beta no surprising that she cannot handle being Luna' and words like 'Luna Freya was better, warmer and more head straight, she is a scatter brain' and special words from Ciara would be 'so disappointing, I would have made a better Luna not this broken whore'

"When does she come in?" I asked trying to distract my mind from the negative thoughts, Kaden said one step at a time, maybe he understood what I was going through that he had not brought up the conversation yet or maybe he also thought I was not ready to take on such responsibilities, he is the only one in this pack that has seen my scars and my pains almost completely , the others have only heard of it or caught a glimpse.

"In half an hour, she wants to travel out of the pack, she is not yet showing so she wants to mask her scent and hide the pregnancy"

"Why?" I was curious

"She is traveling with her mate to his family pack, they do not accept her because she has no ranking, her mates belongs to a beta family, they find her undeserving that's why she remained here and her mate joined her" Hannah explains

"Oh, but she did not choose him, they were fated to be together, their family should understand that this is something they cannot control" I was livid, the werewolf community has really changed a lot in the past few years.

"The mating process is not well respected by family of influence anymore, werewolves are seeking greater power and they don't want to risk having a weak bloodline" Hannah explains

"How do you know all these?"

Hannah chuckles before saying "my sister suffered a similar fate when she found her mate, he was about becoming an Alpha but his father refused to pass it to him because of who he was mated too, he wanted his son to mate with the neighboring pack Alpha's daughter who was an only child to merge the packs together"

"Oh!" I mumbled, if this was getting common why did Kaden not reject me when he learnt the truth of my identity, though I had beta blood running in my veins, Kaden stands to lose a lot by mating with the daughter of a criminal

"You should be happy Kaden follows the old and true ways— I saw him feed you, it means he accepts you"

I wanted to say we are simply giving the relationship a try but I did not say anything, if even things doesn't work out for both of us, he would still be stuck with me, we would not be able to reject each other and we would remain like that until one of us dies so I responded "Yeah"

Hannah smiles wholeheartedly and I smiled back but weakly.

I have never heard a mated and marked werewolf break up before, since they had accepted the bond and mated, they were bonded forever and they became each other everything.

Kaden and I case was different, he had once been mated before and I was a compensation, it is sad that I sometimes see myself as that I could not stop myself, thoughts of if Kaden's first mate had not died would I have had a mate to begin with ran through my head, was I initially fated to be mateless?.

I inhaled and exhaled deeply before dropping my shoulders in a slouching stance and continued my work.

Twenty minutes had passed before a brunette young woman entered the clinic and I knew exactly who she was, the worry crease on her forehead and she placing her hands on her belly continually gave it out.

"Hi Luna, my name is Gia,I am here to see Hannah" The young woman said, nervousness dripped out her words and it made me want to comfort though I internally cringed at the title she had called me, was that what this pack would call me even before the ritual would take place.

"Have a seat, I will get her for you" I smiled at her, maybe my voice was soothing to her because she immediately dropped her shoulders and her heart rate seemed to have dropped as well, I was happy that she was becoming relaxed and I had been some kind of help to her in my own little way

"Thank you Luna" Gia smiled back

"You can call me Anna" I requested but Gia stared at me like I had grown an extra head, I had no response so I simply smiled and then walked away.

****

"Oh Gia!, how are you doing?" Hannah hugs Gia

"Nervous actually" Gia confessed though we could all feel it

"You will be fine" Hannah assures her and I nod my head in agreement "We will check the baby first and I will give you the mixture" she added

"About the mixture...., I was wondering if—" Gia began but Hannah cuts her off

"If it will have any effect on the baby?" She completed and smiles "Then no, your baby will be fine, and you don't have to even drink the mixture, you just rub it on your belly and it masks your scent and hides your pup heartbeat"

"Heartbeat?" I asked curious, could wolves hear the heartbeat of their pup in the womb

"Wolves of higher ranking have a very good sense and they have the ability to listen to heartbeats better than regular wolves, so it would not be difficult for them to hear that of a pup, a fetus heartbeat is quite distinctive" Hannah explains.

So my father would have been aware of me even before my mother even informed him, how ecstatic he would have been, my father and my mother's relationship was a relationship that was admired throughout our pack, they were the perfect match, everyone would always praise them, my mother understood my father and he did her as well so they never really had an troubles, they were always like lovestruck teenagers and I growing up I wished to be like that with my mate.

The fairytale of werewolves mates having no issues the moment they mated and marked was a complete lie, the mate bond was not a voodoo or a love spell, they were still things to work out amongst mates even with the mate bond binding them, they would still fight and quarrel but at the end they would always be with each other and love each other.

Gia steps in the bed where Hannah was going to check her, it was just like in the movies in the human world, a cold blue gel was spread across her belly and Hannah waved the wand across the belly while we watched in the screen

"You baby is growing fast and healthy, in four months you will have your pup with you" Hannah smiles

"Thank you" Gia smiles back, I stare at the monitor in awe and it made me feel strange what if I had become pregnant when I mated with Kaden he would have been with my pup in less than six months.

"Should we listen to the heart beat?" Hannah asks and my stomach immediately turns, I quickly excused myself and dashed into the restroom spilling my guts out into the sink, my head feels heavy and I struggle to balance myself by the wall, my eyes are blurring out and the images before me fades until darkness consumes me and I fall to the ground.

****

I open my eyes slowly, the white ceiling was the first thing I see, and I realized that I was lying on a bed, I look around and realize that I was still in the clinic in one of the rooms, I managed to sit up and that was when Hannah comes into the room

"Oh my goodness!, you scared me Anna, I was worried when you left the observation room and after I was done with Gia I went looking for you around the clinic only to find you passed out on the restroom floor. How do you feel?" Hannah rambled

"I feel fine, my head still hurts a bit" I truthfully confess, I do not understand what was going on, werewolves don't fall sick that much, it was really rare just like in my mother's case was it possible that I had inherited my mother's immune system, was I going to die early as well?.

"I am about to inform the Alpha, but I can't get through, he must be busy" Hannah said

"Don't!" I yelled, grabbing her hands, if what had happened to my mother was happening to me then Kaden would lose me also, I would not be able to bear a pup for him because my body would be weak and I would die, my mother and father had not realized it earlier and if they did he would not have tried for another pup, I was a miracle, we would have still be together and my father would not have ran mad.

"Why?" Hannah eyed me suspiciously "Is there something you are not telling me?"

"My mother had a weak body, she died while trying to birth my brother, my brother died as well" I confessed

"So you feel, you have inherited it from your mother, did she have any illness to be specific?" She asks and I shake my head, she sighs deeply "We should tell the Alpha, if this happens again and he finds out that I had kept it from him, he would be furious"

"No!, if he finds out I would not be able to bear a pup for him" I reasoned, Hannah eyes widens

" Have you felt any signs before today?" She asks

"Signs?" I asked confused "I have been feeling tired" I responded

"Yes, I have to test your blood, I have already drawn your blood because I was worried about you, I thought your body was still reacting to the wolfsbane or so but there is another possibility" she says

"What possibility?" I asked, my confusion was growing as Hannah was staring at me wide eyes

"Wait a minute, if I am right there may be no need for a blood test" she said and she walks out of the room leaving in my growing confusion, few minutes later she returned but she is pushing some machines inside the room, I realize that it was the machine she used to check Gia

"No way!" I gasped, was I with child

"There is a possibility" Hannah responded setting up the machine by the bed

"But I thought you said, the wolfsbane would prevent me from getting pregnant" I reasoned

"I was not a hundred percent sure" she said "Lie down— lift your blouse up" she instructed and I did as she told me, I stared at the ceiling, if this was true, Kaden would be ecstatic, he would love his pup, I feel the cold gel on my belly and then the wand and the next thing I hear, it is a heartbeat

"You are pregnant!" Hannah gasps and I immediately snapped my head to the monitor, I am with child.